1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to supply management systems and in particular to communications between an enterprise and outside suppliers for that enterprise. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to automatically notifying outside suppliers for an enterprise of design changes relating to the products supplied or services performed by the outside supplier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Improvements and other design changes are frequently required during the life cycle of tools and similar products. Engineers or designers within an enterprise may institute design changes to improve performance, reduce manufacturing costs, or increase compatibility with other products. However, such design changes complicate the supply management process since outside suppliers affected by the changes must be notified.
Currently, notification of outside suppliers regarding design changes is generally a manual and/or physical process. The engineer or designer must identify each outside supplier affected by the change. Modified drawings reflecting the design changes are sent, usually in hard copy form, to the outside suppliers which have been identified. Responses from the outside suppliers, which are also generally in hard copy form, must be correlated to the appropriate change or revision.
In contemporary supply systems, identifying outside suppliers affected by a design change (e.g., part specification and/or drawing changes) is complicated by the global nature of most manufacturing bases. A design change implemented by an engineer in Houston may affect a manufacturer in England or Singapore with whom the engineer has never had contact. Mere transmission of hard copies of the revisions to an outside supplier located on a different continent requires significant time and expense.
It would be desirable, therefore, to automate the process of notifying outside suppliers or other affected parties regarding relevant design changes.